I'll admit it. I was kind of nervous going in to the week. I had grown so used to the team I had worked with for my other four weeks and was a little scared to lose them. I knew that the Midwest team had all been working together and with all the traveling they do from place to place, I figured they'd be pretty close. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to make friends and I only knew one of the other counselors. But there was no reason for me to be worried. I arrived to Kirtland late, because we had to wait extra long for the shuttle, and so I arrived about 15 minutes into the fireside and just slipped in. I waved to my friend, but sat quietly by myself. But after the fireside, when they announced BC groups, my BC (Codi) immediately gave me a huge hug, and Ellie (one of the coordinators) couldn't stop waving at me. I immediately felt so welcome and so at home, even though I was the only counselor who had never worked with them before.
Another good sign of the week, was once I met my co (Ben), we were almost instantly on the same page and unified. He's such a solid guy. Though I also feel bad that I wasn't able to spend as much time with him during the week as I wanted, since we were on the kind of crazy special edition schedule and I was on musical program during free time.
Anyways, I had the 16-18 year olds this week and I adored them. We were On the Right Hand (from Acts 7:55-56). We had 10 girls and 12 boys (super bizarre to have more guys than girls, but it was fun for me to be escorted sometimes and get to know some of the guys better that way).
We were able to tour some historical sites in Kirtland and the surrounding areas on Tuesday and Wednesday and it was amazing. Our session directors (the Woodwards) also were so informative about all the historically significant things that happened in Kirtland. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize how much happened there until this week. I had heard most of the stories, but didn't put two and two together that they happened there. But Kirtland was the church headquarters for the longest of anywhere besides Salt Lake City, so a lot happened there. I got to be in the room where D&C 76 was seen in vision by Joseph (and then I was able to studying that section on the lawn of the farm where it was revealed). To look at the exact place where Christ revealed himself in the temple to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, and where Moses, Elias, and Elijah came to restore keys (and read D&C 110 on the temple grounds). To stand on the step of the John Johnson farm that Joseph Smith both preached from and was dragged from before he was tarred and feathered. To sit near the site where the first high priests of the dispensation were ordained. It was all so incredible and I feel so blessed to have been able to do it. Granted, it was bit crazy... I was doing a million and a half headcounts to constantly make sure I didn't lose any kids, and the schedule was a bit nuts (including getting less sleep on the touring days). But the busing and touring also provided some extra bonding time as a group. And nothing pulls people together more than spiritual experiences and discussions (one reason why EFY is so awesome). :-)
I also had the great opportunity to help with musical program this week. It was definitely a little crazy because we only had four practices instead of the normal six (we lost two lunch practices since we were touring), but it definitely brought the Spirit and helped to set the tone for me to receive some personal revelation that night. And the counselors I got to work with for that were wonderful.
Late night chats with some other counselors were also great... though the lack of sleep due to them wasn't. Oops. I know I still need to figure lots of stuff out with my life and I feel like this week gave me more questions instead of answers. But I am so happy I had the opportunity to be in Kirtland with a great team. And I'm also so grateful that I just got hired on for one more week of EFY, this time in Cedar City. It's going to be awesome.
No comments:
Post a Comment